Everything She Ever Wanted
by uwmuggle
Summary: A strange amulet, a mumbled wish, and Buffy gets a glimpse into a life she never thought she could have. Buffy/Giles
1. Chapter 1

Xander threw himself onto the sofa dramatically, "Is it just me or was that demon especially hard to get rid of?"

Willow joined him. "It certainly seemed easier when we were younger."

Giles eased himself into a chair, guarding his right arm. "You're hardly ancient Willow. Although perhaps some of us have gotten a bit too old and decrepit these past few years."

Buffy limped and stood next to him, "you're not ancient either Giles, and certainly not decrepit," she bent over the back of the chair and kissed him affectionately on the head. Blushing she stood up, "so who wants an ice pack?" The other three raised their hands and she hurried into the kitchen. She couldn't believe she had just kissed Giles, sure it was only on the head but still.

"I don't care what you say Giles, I feel a lot older than 25," Willow stretched and winced as her joints popped.

They heard a glass break and Buffy let out of string of curses. Giles sighed and pressed himself away from the chair, "I hope that wasn't one of my good glasses." He walked to the kitchen.

Xander watched him leave. "I think fighting the minions of hell for nearly ten years ages a person faster than normal."

Willow sighed, "I just wish we were young again." They both gasped as a brilliant blue light enveloped them.

In the kitchen Buffy was busy holding a papertowel to her hand. "Sorry about the glass Giles, guess I'm worse off than I thought."

"Are you okay?" He glanced at the few drops of blood on the counter and quickly looked away; he hated seeing her blood.

"Nothing that won't feel better in the morning."

"Good, then I'll just take these out to our rapidly aging cohorts." He took the glasses from her hands, gently letting his fingers brush against hers. He delighted in these tiny caresses, so innocent and yet so meaningful.

Buffy felt the strange magic before she saw the blue glow. "Giles, wait!" She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him back through the doorway with some difficulty.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Giles stood up and shook his head in a dazed fashion.

"Willow! Xander!" Buffy ran into the living room but stopped short when she saw what had happened to them.

Two children only two or three years old were sitting on the sofa, drowning in clothes that were a million times too big for them. There could be no mistaking them for anyone other than Willow and Xander. The diminuitive witch still had the stick straight red hair, while the younger boy had unruly black curls and deep brown eyes. For a moment the two of them stared at Buffy and Giles before they both opened their mouths and began to sob. Instantly Buffy was kneeling in front of them but they hid their faces and only cried more loudly for their mothers.

Giles sat down on the arm of the sofa and reached out to touch Xander on the shoulder. The presence of this large and strange man did little to comfort them. Instead they cried louder and reached for Buffy. She wrapped her arms around them both and tried to shush them. She looked up at Giles and her eyes grew wide and then she began to laugh.

"What, may I ask, is so funny?"

"Go look in the mirror."

He got up and gazed into the wall-mounted mirror. His vision was blurred and for a moment he worried. He removed his glasses and looked again, relieved to see that his vision had improved. The figure that stared back at him was at once familiar and a stranger. His silver hair had grown and returned to its youthful, glossy raven color. His face was smoother, free from the lines caused by years of worry. He reached up and touched his face to make sure it was real. "What's happened?"

"Looks like someone's discovered the fountain of youth and I'm guessing it's not that tea you're so fond of drinking." She laughed and Xander, who had stopped crying looked up at her and smiled.

"But I look almost twenty years younger."

"So? I'd say they look nearly 25 years younger."

"Well, assuming the same happened to me as Xander and Willow, how come there aren't three babies for you to look after?"

"Maybe, whatever it was, only takes off a certain number of years. And who says I'm taking care of them?" Xander had begun tugging on her arm, "or maybe it was because I pulled you back away from it." He tugged harder, "What Xander?" Her tone had been sharper than she intended. Instantly his eyes welled up and his lip began to tremble. "Oh, I'm sorry big guy, it's okay don't cry. Tell Buffy what's the matter?"

"Potty!"

Buffy blushed, "um, okay. Giles?" She looked up and saw him trying to sneak into his library mumbling about research. "Stop right there Watcher of mine, there's no way I'm letting you leave me to deal with two toddlers on my own."

"But Buffy, I don't know anything about children."

"And I do?"

"Well, surely you've done some babysitting before? Just consider it practice for when you have your own children." He knew that last statement was a mistake the moment he left his lips.

Buffy flashed him a look that was full of anger and sadness. "I'm the Slayer remember? I don't get to have a family." With that she shoved Willow into his reluctant arms and carried Xander into the bathroom.

"Buffy I'm..."

"Sorry? Don't bother, I'm fine, I don't want to talk about. And unless you know how to fix this in the next hour, we're going to need soem supplies from the store. I can't go with two naked toddlers, so unless you want to stay here with them," she let her sentence trail off while she put Xander on the toilet seat.

"But I won't know what to get."

"I'll give you a list. Then if there's anything we missed I can get it while I'm out patrolling."

"Patrolling? Tonight?" She didn't know if he was more worried about her or about spending the evening alone with toddler Willow and toddler Xander.

"Relax, they'll be asleep by then." She turned her attention back to Xander, "all done?"

"Yup," he was unwinding the toilet paper.

"Good," she lifted him off, "do you want to flush the toilet?" He nodded, "okay."

Xander stood on his tiptoes to reach the lever. He watched as the water swirled down and disappeared, clapping his hands and waving. "All done, bye bye!" He waddled out of the room.

Buffy took Willow from Giles, "you'd better follow him Giles. Willow do you need to use the potty?" The little girl nodded shyly and Buffy took her from Giles and put her on the toilet while Giles followed after Xander.

When they were all done she took them into the living room and switched on the television. "You know they say television stunts their mental development."

"Would you rather I let them get into the weapons chest?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Get a pen and paper and I'll tell you what to get."

Fifteen minutes later he was out the door and Buffy was stationed between the two of them while they watched Looney Tunes. She was writing a list of everything they knew about the spell in the hopes that it would help Giles with the research. She would leave him to figure out which books they should look in, even after ten years she still wasn't very good at researching.

After an hour they were beginning to get restless and Buffy had to hold them on the sofa. She was beginning to wonder if she should call Giles and tell him to hurry up when she heard the sound of his key in the door. Unfortunately so did Willow and Xander and they quickly slid off the sofa and began running toward the door. They were only stopped from tripping him up by Buffy grabbing them each around the waist. "It's about time." She looked past him to see the porch covered with more bags, "think you got enough there?"

"That was a long list. Plus I saw some other stuff that I thought we might want."

She dug through the bags for some clothes. "Help me get them changed, it's like living in a midget nudist colony."

"But Buffy!"

She tossed a pair of sweatpants at him. "Research later, help now." She grabbed a pink pair of pajamas and lifted Willow up. Willow was happy to get hr new pretty princess pajamas so she stayed still while Buffy dressed her.

Giles was not so lucky. As soon as he took off the overly large T-shirt Buffy had tried to make Xander wear, Xander slipped from his grasp and began running around the room. Buffy laughed as Giles tried to reason with him while he chased him around the room. Finally he gave up and just decided to let Xander run. He figured that in a minute he'd be tired and then would be easy to grab. He had not counted on the fact that two year olds are not the steadies of creatures. Before either him or Buffy could do anything Xander tripped and fell, hitting his head as he did so. Instantly he started crying while big fat crocodile tears slid down his cheeks. Giles came and tried to see if he was okay, but Xander cried harder.

Buffy came to the rescue. "Did you bump your head?" He nodded.

"Kiss it." He put a hand to his head.

"You want me to kiss it, make it better?" He nodded and tried to smile. Buffy had to wonder how much of the old Xander was in there. She kissed him lightly on the forehead. "There all better. Can Giles help you put on your clothes now?" A look of fear crossed his face and he shook his head. "Wouldn't you like to have some lunch?" He nodded his head; it would seem that much like the old Xander, the best way to get through to him was through his stomach. "You have to put your clothes on first okay?" He nodded. "Giles is going to put your clothes right here," she pointed to the table, "so you can put them on okay? Then you can help with lunch." He smiled at her, wiping away the last of his tears with his chubby fists.

Giles put the outfit down and backed away. "I suppose you have a plan?"

"Of course. Lunch, playtime, dinner, bathtime, story, bedtime, patrol and research." She watched as Xander struggled his way into his pajamas. She laughed when his arm got stuck and went to help him. "I think that you should stick to helping Willow right now, and I'll take on Xander."

"Why is he so scared of me?"

"Didn't you ever meet his dad?" Giles thought about it for a moment then shook his head, "well, Xander never said anything to me about it, other than his father was a big fan of the drinking, but I think he was also a fan of corporal punishment."

"I had no idea." He really hadn't realized that Xander had it so hard. No wonder he had been content to spend all of hours of the day and night facing vampires and demons.

"Well, no need to worry about it now. Although don't they use the cane in England?" She was trying to lighten the mood, but Giles was still serious.

"I would never raise my hand to a child."

She picked Xander up and walked over to Giles and reached out to put her hand on his arm. "I know Giles, you're the forever patient one. Now hows about some mac and cheese?"

Giles smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner at Xander. "How do I do it?"

"The directions are on the box Giles." She turned to the toddlers. "Who wants to color?"

Half an hour later, Willow and Xander were seated around the coffee table on chairs made of stacked phone books, greedily eating their macaroni and cheese with their hands, completely ignoring their forks. While they were momentarily distracted Buffy and Giles went around the apartment putting fragile things up high and making sure the weapons were all safely stored. The bags from the store were finally unpacked and Buffy couldn't help but smile at the extras that Giles had included.

For Xander he had purchased a small plastic carpenter's bench, complete with plastic hammer and screw driver. For Willow a plastic tea set. "Giles, we're not all British."

"Well they didn't exactly have a plastic potion making set." He picked up the notebook Buffy had made her list on earlier. "What's this?"

"A list to help with our research. I thought I'd write down everything I could that might help."

"That was a really good idea Buffy."

"Well you don't have to sound surprised. Just because I don't like doing the research doesn't mean I don't know how it's done." She felt herself getting annoyed that he thought she wasn't as smart as she was. He was never going to see her as more than the blond ditz of slayer he had met ten years earlier.

"That's not what I meant Buffy. I wasn't trying to imply something." She never ceased to amaze him, and he was wondering if perhaps he hadn't told her that enough.

Xander had begun to beat out a drum solo on his empty plate, having finally discovered a use for his fork. Buffy got a wet rag from the kitchen and went to wipe his face off. "Xander, Giles bought you a toy. Would you like him to show you how to play with it?" He looked at her skeptically. "Go on, Giles is our friend and he doesn't have anyone else to play with."

Xander thought about it for a moment then slowly walked over to Giles, who was smiling encouragingly. He was trying to work out if he could trust Giles, and soon was convinced by the new toy. In no time he was banging happily away at the plastic wood and nails. Willow followed after happy to accept the dolly that Giles handed to her. Buffy watched as Giles played with them both, speaking as if he were talking to the 25 year old Willow and Xander. He was good with kids, she had to wonder why he had never had any of his own.

Buffy cleaned up the table and went into the kitchen. Dinner was going to come sooner rather than later so she might as well get some things prepared and that wasn't going to happen if she spent all her time looking at new, hot, young Giles. She wondered how long they were going to have to stay like this. They would have to stay at Giles' place, since it was the only place with two bedrooms that was big enough for all four of them. She would stop at her place to get some clothes while she was out patrolling.

Giles was quite enjoying himself, although he wouldn't admit it to anyone. Their youth seemed to bring out his fatherly role even more. Still he couldn't help but wonder how long they would remain like this. If they couldn't find a way to reverse it would he be left to take care of them? No doubt Buffy would help but she was the Slayer, as much as he didn't like to think about it, she could be taken from them, from him every night she went out.

He came to stand at the doorway and watched her as she cleaned up the dishes from that morning. Domesticity suited her, she was beautiful, even with macaroni in her hair. He wondered who the idiot on the council was who decided that Slayers couldn't be mothers. He didn't even know if she wanted them, it had never come up. Perhaps it was time to have a more in depth conversation with his Slayer.

"Buffy?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you sure you should go patrolling tonight?"

"Just a quick one. Besides, I'll have to go back to my place and get some stuff."

"Some stuff?"

"Well, I can't wear the same outfit every day until we've figured this out."

"Will you be staying here then?"

"I don't have to stay here if you don't want me to Giles, I just thought it'd be easier." She kept her gaze focused on the vegetables in front of her. She had been spending more and more time at his place and was glad to have a reason to stay the night.

"I want you stay. Of course, Buffy you're always welcome here." They stood awkwardly, Buffy slicing carrots, Giles watching her. "I think that while they're suitably distracted I'll start on that research." He went to the library and grabbed some books then returned to where he could watch them. Buffy came out and joined him. Soon she was grateful though when Willow came and stood next to her.

"Do you want something honey?" She didn't say anything but stood and kind of wiggled. Buffy recognized the dance she was doing. "Do you need to go potty?" The little girl nodded. "Okay, let's go. Xander you too." Together they walked into the bathroom.

When they were done they returned to their spot on the floor and continued with their play. An hour later, when Xander had decided he was bored with hitting the plastic nails and would rather hit Willow, Buffy decided it was time for dinner. Giles busied himself with sitting them around the table while Buffy made the dinner. She sat across from him and smiled, and he was mesmerized by it. The moment was soon ruined when Willow let out a wail. Xander had discovered the projectile properties of carrot sticks. It was agreed on that dinner time was over. Which could only mean one thing...time for a bath.


	2. Chapter 2

"Giles!"

He dropped his book and ran to the bathroom, drawn by the sound of her panic, he threw the door open. "What's the matter? What's happened?" He paused to take in the scene, and before he could help himself he started laughing. Buffy was drenched from head to toe as Xander and Willow splashed water at her. "Buffy, what happened?"

"This little monster poured water all over me." She watched him, laughing so hard he had to lean against the wall. "It's not funny." When he still didn't stop laughing she couldn't help but join in. "Fine, let's see how you like it." She threw the sopping wet washrag at him.

"Oh you are so gonna get it." He threw it back at her, then turned the faucet on so he could splash her. She stood up and poured a cup of water over him. Their fight continued until water covered the floor. Slipping, she reached out to grab his arms for support. She was pressed against him, his wet shirt clinging to his well muscled chest. She looked up at him, his green eyes sparkling at her with laughter. "Do you surrender?" His voice came out far more huskier than intended.

She couldn't speak. His arms held her firmly and she wondered if they had always been so strong. Suddenly they were reminded of where they were by Xander, who tired of not being the center of attention threw his bath toy at them. Buffy stepped away from him and looked toward the tub. "Okay, so we're so not doing joint baths any more. Come on little monster." She picked him up and wrapped the fluffy towel around him. "You get Willow, I'm taking him upstairs to get ready for bed."

Giles brushed some bubbles off of Willow's nose before taking her out and wrapping the towel around her. She was going to need her hair brushed and he thought he might as well do it now. He sat her on her lap and began to drag the comb through it. There were some tears when he caught a tangle or two, but it was done mostly without incident. He carried her up the stairs and into the guest room, which was empty. "Oh no," he whispered as he went into his own room.

Xander was bouncing on the bed while Buffy held his hands. When he saw Giles in the doorway he sat down. "Uh oh, Gwiles."

"Buffy, what are they doing in my room. Wouldn't it make more since to put them in the smaller room?"

"I thought about that but I figured this would be better."

"And where might I ask will I be sleeping?"

"In the guest room."

"And you?"

She spoke slowly, like she was explaining it to a child. "In here of course, we can't leave them alone."

"Alright, fine." He put Willow down. Buffy put her feety pajamas on. They laid down and Buffy tucked the blankets around them. Giles turned to go but Willow reached out, "Giles!" He stopped and turned around. "Story!"

"Buffy will read you a story."

"NO you!"

"You are the one with the books. Besides, while you read I can patrol." She could see he was about to argue. "They won't be any trouble, they're ready to fall asleep already." She stood and went to his dresser, opening drawers until she found his shirts. she pulled one from the top. She pulled her wet shirt off before Giles could stop her, "I'm not going out there in a wet shirt? Do you want me to catch my death?" She pulled his sweater on. "Don't worry I'll be back in a couple of hours, three tops."

Buffy left and Giles contemplated the two children staring at him with eager and expectant eyes. "What kind of story would you like?"

Patrolling was easy, only two newly turned vamps. She went back to her apartment and packed some clothes. She didn't know how long she would be staying there so she packed for a week. Was it wrong that she was enjoying herself in this new situation? Giles had told her that it would be practice for when she had children of her own. Unfortunately, she was less optimistic. What if this was the only chance she had to care for children?

She hurried back to Giles'. The lights were off downstairs. Once inside her eyes adjusted to the dim light she made her way upstairs. Giles was sitting in the chair next to the bed while Willow and Xander slept. His feet were propped up on the end of the bed and he had removed his shoes and socks. Buffy watched him from the doorway thinking he had very sexy feet. "Hey, everything okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, the children, yes. Two stories and many questions later, they finally fell asleep. The patrolling?" He loved seeing her in his clothes, even if she had gotten his sweater dirty during the patrol.

"Did a light sweep, introduced two new vamps to Mr. Pointy. Have you found anything yet?"

"No, but your list has proven exceedingly helpful, thank you." He smiled when she blushed.

"Well, I'm just going to take a quick shower, then I'll sit with them and you can go to sleep." She walked out of the room and into the bathroom quickly shedding her clothes.

The hot water felt good on her body. Only when the water turned cold did she get out. Groaning she realized she had left her bag of clothes in the room. She wrapped the towel around her, there was nothing to do but go and get it. "Giles? I'm back, you can go to bed, or do more research or whatever."

He looked up from his book and whatever reply he had disappeared. All he could see was the water tracing lazy streams down her neck, onto her chest and into the towel. That towel wasn't nearly long enough and he couldn't keep his gaze from traveling up the tan expanse of her legs.

Buffy looked at him and was completely taken aback by what she saw. The gaze that met hers held something she'd never seen from him; hunger, lust, appreciation. Buffy smiled and blushed, she was intrigued by the fact that she could incite such feelings in him. For a moment she thought about dropping the towel and seeing how he would react, but a snort from the bed returned her focus to the moment. "Um Giles?"

"Hmmm, oh sorry. Yes, I have some, there's a something. I'm going downstairs to do some more research." He stood up and left the room, doing his best not to look at her.

Buffy dug through her bag looking for her pajamas. "Crap." She had packed everything except pajamas. She pulled a tank top out of the bag and put it on then slid a pair of panties on. She thought about sleeping just like that, but figured it would only lead to more stuttering by Giles. Instead she returned to his drawers to find a pair of boxers. She turned the lamp off and climbed onto the bed next to Xander. She smoothed his hair back from his forehead and kissed it lightly, then leaned over to kiss Willow's.

It took quite a long time for Giles to get the image of nearly naked and wet Buffy out of his head. He tried to read his book but his eyes kept dropping closed. He woke up hours later and groaned. He was incredibly stiff and half his body had fallen asleep. The sofa was not that comfortable. He stood up and made his way upstairs. He just wanted to crash on a bed for a couple of hours, but he stopped in his room first.

Buffy had rolled on her back at some point during the night and Xander had put his head on her stomach, or to be more precise, on her breast. Giles smiled and took the moment to look over his slayer. There wasn't very much of her covered, so there was plenty of her for him to explore. His gaze traveled from her toes, painted a ridiculous bubblegum pink, up her trim legs, he smirked to see her in his boxer shorts. He looked at her stomach, toned, smooth except for scar she received during their battle to defeat the first. Her arms carried scars so faint it would take someone who knew every inch of her to see them. On her neck she bore the marks from her encounters with vampires, both enemies and lovers. The Master, Angel, Dracula, they had all left their mark on her. He wanted take them all away, make her untouched.

Buffy moved in her sleep, gently stroking Xander's hair. Giles came to his senses and left the room. He would sleep in the guest room tonight, but in the morning he would suggest alternative sleeping arrangements. He managed to fall asleep but it seemed like only minutes later a small person was climbing onto the bed and poking him.

"Wake up Gwiles." Xander had climbed up and was poking him in the belly.

Giles opened his eyes and gazed blearily at him. "Giles wants to sleep Xander, go bother Buffy."

"Buffy is already awake, thank you very much." Buffy was standing in the doorway, holding Willow and trying not to laugh as Xander climbed on top of Giles and began pulling on his nose. He pretended to be grumpy as he sat up and tumbled Xander onto the bed and began to tickle him. He laughed as Xander squealed and laughed. "This doesn't look like a fair fight. Go get him Willow." She put Willow on the bed and she came up behind him and began to tickle him. Buffy laughed before joining in, "Get Giles!"

Soon all three of them were piling onto Giles. He turned his attention away from the children and began tickling Buffy. She writhed under him and suddenly he became less playful and more ardent as his hands moved over her body. Before either of them realized what was happening he was straddling her as he pinned her arms to the bed with his hand. "Do you surrender?" Her eyes were bright and her face was flushed. He wanted to kiss her.

"Never," her voice came out as a husky whisper. She knew she could throw him off if she wanted to, but she didn't want to. Without thinking she licked her lips and saw his eyes widen. Her breathing grew shallow and she could feel her heart fluttering in her chest.

"Hungwee. Buffy, hungwee." Xander was sitting there, staring at them with a curious gaze.

Giles released her and stood up, unable to look her in the eye. "Right, breakfast. Let's go downstairs and see what we have to eat." He picked up Willow and Xander and carried from the room. Buffy sat up and smoothed her hair. She had no idea what had just happened. She dressed quickly and followed them downstairs.

Giles had turned the TV on and sat them on the floor in front of it, each of them with a bowl of dry cereal. He was busy in the kitchen making tea. "Buffy will you be having tea or coffee?"

"Tea's fine," she picked up the book Giles had been reading. "Have you found anything yet?"

"No, it's rather strange. Without an actual spellcaster to focus on we have to assume it was the work of some sort of talisman or other magickal object, but we don't have one of those."

"Oh, oh!" Buffy stood up and became excited.

"What?" Giles was staring at her like she had gone insane.

"Their clothes, where are their clothes?"

"In the laundry basket I imagine." He watched as she ran from the room.

Buffy returned a moment later with Xander's pants and began shaking them until something fell from the pocket. She bent to pick it up. "Maybe a magickal object like this?"

He took it from her and examined it. It was an intricately carved star with some sort of crystal in the center. "This will give us something to work with." He began heading toward the library.

"Giles, no research until naptime."

"Buffy we have to figure out how to reverse this."

"I know, but I need your help with them."

"Buffy I know you like having this opportunity to play mother, but they're not your children. Xander and Willow have lives of their own."

It felt like he had slapped her, "Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"Well, you can't say you haven't been enjoying this." He hadn't meant to upset her.

"Fine, go do your research!" She grabbed her coat and purse and left the door, slamming it behind her. She was so furious with him for saying that. How dare he think she didn't want her friends to return to normal. She wasn't going to say she wasn't enjoying herself, but when else was she going to have a chance to do this on her own?

Buffy could hear Willow and Xander begin to sob behind the door. For a moment she wanted to go back and comfort them but she was too mad at Giles. Instead she stormed off toward town. A little retail therapy was just what the doctor ordered.

An hour later her anger had been replaced with sadness and she hadn't bought anything. It seemed like every where she went she was reminded of the life she wasn't supposed to have. She had been fine being the Slayer, and even better being a slayer, the idea of never having children of her own had never bothered her before. Now she's thinking that the reason it never bothered her was because she didn't know what she was missing out on. She could feel an emptiness in her heart that only seemed to grow.

She walked slowly back toward Giles'. No doubt he would be angry with her for leaving. She stopped in front of children's store and looked in the window. She could feel tears beginning to pool in her eyes. She pushed open the door and walked through the aisles, overflowing with pastel blankets, and cute furry animals. She brushed her fingers over them, thinking about everything.

"Excuse me? Can I help you find something?"

"No, I'm just looking, thanks."

"Oh, for you or someone else?"

"Um no, not for me, I mean, I can't," suddenly she was crying. She avoided the sympathy of the shop lady and ran out of the store and into the street. She didn't stop until she reached the park. She sat down on a bench and wiped furiously at her eyes. She was trying to collect herself when a little girl came and sat down next to her.

"My name's Megan."

Buffy smiled at her, "I'm Buffy. Where's your mommy?"

"Over there. Why are you crying?"

"I'm just a little sad."

"My mommy always says that nothing cheers her up like a good hug. I could give you a hug."

"That's okay I have someone at home who can hug me," Buffy realized the truth when she said it.

"You should go home then."

"You're right. Thanks Megan, I'm glad I met you." She smiled as the little girl danced away. She really did feel bad about leaving Giles alone with the toddlers. She looked at her watch. Lunch time had probably come and gone at the house. She wondered if they would be tired enough for a nap. Buffy stopped at a little store and picked up a special lunch she knew he'd like. Maybe she could watch them so he could have some time alone. Smiling, hoping that he'd forgive her she made her way back to the house.

Buffy opened the door quietly and looked around. The place was a disaster area, cereal, toys and clothes were everywhere. If there hadn't been toddlers she would have suspected demons, of course, there wasn't that big of a difference. She came in further to investigate and stopped when she saw Giles on the sofa, apparently asleep, with Willow and Xander draped over him. She came in quietly and put the bag of food down. She leaned over the sofa and brushed the hair back from Giles' forehead. She bent down and kissed it gently. When she pulled back she was surprised to see him staring at her.

"Buffy..."

She put her finger to his lips. "Sshhh, don't wake them up." She picked up Willow carefully, cradling her softly so as not to wake her. "Can you get him?" He nodded and she went upstairs. She could hear him following behind her. They put them on the bed and smiled at them as they continued to sleep.

"Buffy..."

"Not here, I have lunch for you downstairs." She left the room and he followed after her. He stopped to use the bathroom while Buffy set the table. "I thought we could eat like adults for a change." She dished up the food and he seemed delighted. "I just wanted to apologize for yelling at you earlier, I know you weren't trying hurt me."

"Buffy, I'm sorry, I don't think I realized how difficult this must be for you. I forget sometimes that you don't live a normal life."

"I want to Giles. I mean I love being the Slayer, a slayer, whatever, I don't think I could give that up, but I want a kid. Giles I want to have a family." She hadn't realized she had started crying.

Giles moved around the table and pulled her into hug, crushing her against his chest. "And I want that for you. So much. I'll do everything in my power to help you get that."

She sniffed and smiled at him, "I met a girl at the park today and she said all I needed to cheer me up was a hug."

He smiled at her. "Did it work?"

"Yes, thank you. Come one, let's finish eating. Maybe we can get some research done before they wake up. It looks like they tired you out."

"Oh my God, they didn't stop. We played house, and hide and seek and watched telly until I thought my eyes would melt from my head."

"Admit it, you enjoyed it." He shook his head, "come on, you did, just a little."

"Alright, maybe a little," he laughed. Buffy joined in and soon they were both laughing so hard tears were running down their cheeks. "Come on I think we should get to our research before..."

"Gwiiiiiillllleeees!"

"Before that." Buffy swallowed the last of her glass of wine before hurrying up the stairs. Xander and Willow were both awake and had nearly fallen off the bed by the time they reached them.


	3. Chapter 3

Research was given up for the rest of the day while they both concerned themselves with the two of them. Giles even agreed to go out to the park with them. After everyone was dressed and the bags were all packed they headed out. Giles pushed them on the swings and Buffy climbed on the big toy with them. Afterward they sat on a blanket and had a snack. Buffy and Giles were both reclining, watching them as they played.

"You're happy now."

Buffy looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Hello Megan."

"Did he give you a hug? Is that why you're smiling?"

"Yep. Megan this is Giles. Giles, this is the girl I told you about."

"Nice to meet you Megan."

"Can I play with your kids?"

"Oh, Megan, they're not, I mean, we're just..."

Buffy looked at him, "sure Megan. There's just no point Giles. And soon it'll be fixed right and she won't know the difference. If we ever see her again."

Giles watched her as she played with the three of them. She had so much love to give. After a little while a woman who he assumed was Megan's mother approached.

"I hope she hasn't given you too much trouble."

"Not at all, she's a lovely girl."

"Come on Megan it's time to go home. Could I possibly take a picture of you?"

"Oh, she's not, I mean they're not," he took a deep breath. "Yes, a picture would be lovely."

"Say cheese!" She waited for them to arrange themselves, Buffy with her head on Giles' shoulder both of them with their arms around Xander and Willow. She took the picture, then snapped a few more as she watched Buffy and Giles look at each other. "You two look so happy together."

"Thank you." Giles watched her and Megan leave then turned back to gaze upon Buffy's radiant smile. The sun was beginning to set and he had no intention of fighting vampires with two toddlers attached to his hip. "Come we better get them home before it gets dark."

"Alright," she began putting things back in the bag. "So what's for dinner husband of mine?" She laughed when she heard Giles splutter. Realizing that she was teasing him he laughed as well. Soon Willow and Xander joined in and they laughed all the way back to the house.

As soon as they were home Giles started on dinner while Buffy kept the toddlers entertained. They sat around the coffee table again and Giles made sure that most of Xander's food ended up in him instead of on him. Buffy sat next to Willow, but she was a far less exuberant eater and there wasn't nearly as much for her to do.

Once every one was replete Buffy stood up. "Okay who gets the first bath?"

Xander hid his face and tried to escape from the table only being stopped by Giles. "Take Willow first and we'll do some bonding."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"Well, I'm sure I can handle one. Go on, and let me know when you're ready for him."

Buffy took Willow upstairs and put her in the bath. In a change from the night before, bath time with Willow was much easier and Buffy stayed much dryer. They were singing when Giles opened the door and smiled at the scene. He listened to them as they sang and came in on the last verse.

Buffy looked up at him and smiled her million megawatt smile. "I love your voice Giles, you should sing more often."

He blushed and smiled. "Perhaps I will, just for you." Buffy felt herself go weak as he looked at her. "Are you ready for him?"

"Yes," she looked at Xander, "What did you do to him?"

Giles looked guilty, "what do you mean?"

"Giles, this isn't just dinner, he's colored all over himself."

"Well, I just turned my back for a second. And the next thing I knew he'd turned the coffee table into a Warhol."

"Yes well, good to know you can handle one. Here, I'll switch with you." She passed him a towel wrapped Willow and began peeling a food crusted outfit off of Xander.

"Sing!"

Buffy blushed, "maybe later."

"No sing now!"

Buffy acquiesced and began to sing. She would've stopped at one song but it was keeping him from getting too wild so she continued. After Giles had put Willow in her pajamas and brushed her hair he came back to the bathroom. He watched as Buffy scrubbed off the layers of food and ink. He loved it. His eyes twinkled with mischief though. Catching Xander's eyes he mimed splashing. Starting to shriek Xander followed him, splashing in the water and drenching Buffy.

He couldn't help but laugh as Buffy shrieked and stood up. She turned and glared at him. "Giles!"

His laughter died as looked at her. Her shirt was wet through and he could see her bra through it, her nipples hardened by the chilled water. Suddenly all he could think about was pushing her against the wall and taking her shirt off to warm her nipples with his mouth. He took a step toward her and reached out to her, trying to draw her to him. Buffy could see the heated desire in his eyes and couldn't stop herself from being drawn to him. She put her hand on his chest, feeling the hard muscle underneath his shirt, while he cupped her face gently. He would've kissed her, he wanted to kiss her, but Xander would not be ignored.

"Better, better get him." He walked out of the room.

Buffy shook herself and turned back to Xander, lifting him out of the tub and drying him off. "Come on big guy, let's get you ready for bed." She dressed him in his pajamas and smoothed his hair back. He nestled in her neck and put his chubby fist in his mouth. She kissed his forehead and whispered sweet nothings at him. "Let's get you to sleep."

Their outing at the park must've tired them out because Willow and Xander dropped off to sleep before Buffy had finished their story. Giles was already downstairs researching so she changed out of her soaked clothes and into another one of Giles' sweaters and a pair of work out shorts. She tried not to think about what had happened between them in the bathroom. She had wanted him more than anything she had ever wanted before.

Downstairs Giles was researching in his chair. He was barefoot again and Buffy liked what she saw. She sat across from him on the sofa and stretched her legs out and grabbed a book. Giles let his gaze travel up her legs. He noticed again with a smile that she was wearing one of his sweaters, he was beginning to think he liked them better on her. As she moved to get comfortable the collar opened and slid off one shoulder. He stared at it and realized that she wasn't wearing a bra. All of a sudden his mouth was dry and he was having a difficult time concentrating on his book.

"Giles, is something wrong?" He looked at her blankly. "It's just that you haven't turned a page in nearly half an hour."

Suddenly Giles felt like he needed to get out of the house and away from her and the distraction she was causing him. "Oh, I was thinking, there's a guy I know, who might know about this."

"Where is he?"

"A bar in town."

"Oh, one of those vampire places?"

"Well yes, it does cater to unsavory types, but I trust him."

She didn't want him to go out all alone, but considering she had been out for a large portion of the day it seemed only fair. "Okay, just be careful. I didn't patrol tonight."

He was surprised that she agreed with him so readily, he had expected a fight. Instead he stood up and quickly put his shoes on and reached for his coat. "I won't be gone long, just a couple of hours."

"Well I'll be here, researching away." She watched him go, secretly glad that she could finally turn her attention back to her book.

Giles made his way across town to a bar that had more than a few "evil" creatures at it. He ordered a scotch and drank it quickly. The waitress brought him another one and flirted with him. He could feel Ripper coming to the surface and he rather liked it. He did managed to ask his source about the amulet, although he didn't learn much that he hadn't already known. However, he had consumed most of a bottle of scotch by the time the bartender gave last call. He stumbled from the bar, shouting four letter epithets back at it.

"Hey, you need some help getting home?"

Giles looked toward the voice and leered at the waitress who had been flirting with him earlier. "Hullo gorgeous. Care for a nightcap?" He gave her his best Ripper smile.

"Sure, why not?" She linked her arm with his as they stumbled down the street.

Buffy looked at the clock and stretched her back. He had been gone for nearly six hours. She was beginning to worry about him. She closed the book on her lap and stood up. She was considering going out to look for him when she heard his key in the lock. Any worry she had quickly evaporated and was replaced with rage when he came in with a trashy looking blond hanging on his arm.

They were both laughing about something but it stopped when they saw Buffy staring at them. "Buffy, have you met," he stared at the waitress, trying to remember her name.

"Roxy, nice to meet you." The waitress turned her attention back to Giles, "you didn't tell me you were married."

"She's not my wife, she's my, well things are..."

"No worries, I'd better get home anyway. Good night." She left and shut the door behind her.

"Buffy, I..."

"Save it Giles. You know I was actually starting to worry about you. I thought that something had happened to you." She wanted to yell at him but didn't because the last thing she wanted to do was wake up the toddlers. "And then you came home with that, that..."

"Waitress?"

"Skank!" She had moved closer to him, glaring at him with dangerously sparking eyes. "So while I was here researching, remember me, the person you thought didn't want her friends returned to normal, the anti-researcher? So I was here researching and you were what? Reliving your glorious Ripper days?"

"I'm 30 again Buffy!" "So?"

"So?" His voice was getting progressively louder. "I have needs and desires too! Not that you'd ever noticed the stuffy, old British man. No, you've just been walking around half dressed for the past week, without any thought to those around you."

"What are you talking about Giles?" She hadn't expected to be yelled at by him.

"You're a very desirable woman Buffy," he advanced on her until she was pressed against the wall. Haven't you noticed how hard I've been trying to keep my hands off you?" His eyes looked at her with a predatory yearning as he reached out and cupped her face and she closed her eyes, sinking into his touch but wanting so much more. He seemed to sense that and pressed against her even more, spreading her legs with his thigh as he held her against the wall. "I think you have. I think you wanted me to touch you." He saw the truth in her eyes and pressed his lips against hers in a soul rending kiss.

Buffy couldn't help herself. She had wanted this kiss for so long. Her arms encircled his neck trying to bring him closer. His hand stroked up and down her shirt then under it. She moaned when he found her breast and he growled. He pinched the nipple and she threw her head back, "oh god Giles."

Her name for him brought him back to reality faster than a slap on the face. He opened his eyes and stared at her. Face flushed with arousal, her lips bruised and glistening from his kisses. He took his hand from her breast as if he had been burned. Guilt washed over him. "Oh Buffy, I'm so sorry."

She blinked trying to get her bearings. Giles had been kissing her. And what's more she had kissed him back. More confusing to her was why he stopped. Already she missed the feel of his lips, his hands. "Giles, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, it's just..."

Buffy could tell where this was going and didn't like it. She knew that if he could he would be polishing his glasses. She was going to scream if he even tried to say it was the alcohol. "Forget it Giles. Let's just chalk it up to your new raging hormones and too much scotch."

At the mention of the scotch his face paled, "oh god, I think I'm gonna be sick," he pushed past her and into the bathroom. Buffy sat on the stairs and waited for him to come out.

When he finally did she smiled at him. "I've never made a guy throw up by kissing him before," she pretended to look hurt.

"It wasn't you, it was...I mean kissing you was very...Christ," he rubbed his hands over his face.

"It's cool Giles. Come on let's get you into bed." She followed him up the stairs and into his bedroom. "Come on, pants and shoes off," he complied, looking away from her, unable to meet her gaze. "Shirt too. Now under the covers." She began to climb in next to him.

He looked at her, eyes wide in panic, "What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep." He stared at her in disbelief. "We put the munchkins in the smaller bed so it's not like I can bunk with them, and I've slept on your sofa, and let me just say, ow." He still looked at her like she had something disgusting on her face. "Fine, would it make you feel better if I slept over the sheet?" He nodded his head dumbly. "Fine," she arranged the sheets then laid down. "Are you happy now? I couldn't even touch you if I wanted to." She switched off the light.

Giles didn't think he would be able to sleep with her next to him. He was surrounded by her scent, the vanilla lotion she smoothed on after a shower, the Chanel No. 5 perfume she sprayed in her hair, and just a hint of the spaghetti they had enjoyed for dinner. However, the next thing he knew the sky was beginning to lighten.

Giles watched her sleep, letting his eyes trace over her features in an attempt to brand them on his memory. Despite her assertion that they wouldn't be able to touch she was nearly on top of him. He put his back down, the terrors would be up soon and their peaceful moment would be ruined.

The next time he woke up she was gone. The sun was properly up. His head was killing him and he groaned as his memories from the previous night had returned. He was angry at himself for letting Ripper get the better of him. And now any chance he might've had with Buffy was ruined, not that there had been much of one in the first place. He felt ill, he had nearly forced himself on her. No that's not true, he thought, he had been the aggressor but she hadn't pushed him away. Now she had welcomed his kisses, is caresses. With that thought he pulled her pillow to him and breathed in the scent that was uniquely hers.

Buffy was distracted she realized that the second time Xander had turned his cereal bowl over. As hard as she tried she couldn't get the thought of Giles out of her head. She had given him an out, agreeing to blame it on him being young (again) and drunk. The truth was she had wanted it and would've taken whatever he had to give her and it had hurt beyond belief when he pulled away from her.

Giving up on sleep Giles came downstairs. Willow and Xander were happily coloring on some paper instead of each other and Buffy was in the kitchen. He wished he could be sure she felt the same about him. If only there was a way to find out.

Quietly he came up behind her as she attempted to teach something on an upper shelf. He pressed against her and grabbed the bowl. "Let me get that for you." Buffy froze as his breath tickled her ear. She must have been distracted if he could sneak up on her like that.

"Thank you." He was so close she could smell him, that same Giles scent she had always loved, warm and comforting like leather and scotch. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, her mouth opening, god she wanted him.

He was so close he could feel the heat radiating from her body. He watched her grip the counter convulsively while he whispered in her ear. The bowl retrieved from its high perch he didn't move. Giles wanted to pull her closer to him, mold his body to hers. Instead he settled for caressing her neck. She shuddered under his touch. He bent his head down and began kissing his way from her shoulder to her ear, and she moaned relaxing into him.

Buffy didn't know what he was doing to her but she didn't want him to stop. this must be what he wanted, he wasn't drunk now. She let him move his hands around to her front and cup her breasts. He drew circles around her nipples before letting one hand slide down to her hips where he pulled her to him possessively, grinding himself into her cheeks.

He wanted her, he wanted her now. It didn't matter if he only felt this way because of some other worldly youth spell or that she might hate him afterwards. He began to fumble with the buttons on her jeans. This was it. In a minute Giles would no longer be her Watcher or her friend, but her lover. And it was going to happen right in his kitchen.

He had just begun to push her pants down when a loud crash followed by a scream brought them both back to reality. Buffy hurriedly refastened her pants as they shot apart from each other neither of the believing what they had nearly allowed to happen.

What they confronted in the living room was beyond belief. Some how they had managed to knock over the end table which had sent dishes shattering across the floor. He had cut himself on something and was screaming while blood dripped on the floor. Willow had been frightened by the noise and tumbled backward, hitting her head.

Xander continued to wail until he saw them standing in the doorway. Then with a strangled sob he held his arms out to Buffy and cried, "Mama!"

Reflexively she went to him even though that word tore out her heart. She picked him up and cradled him to her chest, trying to reassure him, which was very had to do once she saw the blood from his cut. "Giles, he's gonna need a doctor to stitch this up."

Giles was holding an ice pack to Willow's head and trying to calm her while she cried. He prayed for just a moment of peace. "We can't take him to a hospital Buffy."

"I have faith in your ability to stitch me up Giles. Lord knows you've had to do it enough, but it's not exactly the same as doing it to a two year old."

"If we take him to the hospital it will raise too many questions. Either they'll think we stole Xander's identity or we're participating in insurance fraud."

"But we have to do something about this," she held up Xander's hand and Giles blanched at the site of the wound.

He thought for a moment. "We'll find a way to numb it as best we can and you can hold him while I stitch him up."

She nodded grimly, "how's Willow."

"Just a bump on the head, she'll be fine."

"So how do we do this?"

"Well, we'll put Willow in the other room. I'll need to gather some supplies. There's a spell that should help things along."

Buffy rocked Xander back and forth, quietly singing to him. He had stopped crying but fat tears were still rolling down his cheeks as he stared at her with trusting eyes. She found it hard to look into eyes that had trusted her so much. "I promise big guy, I'm never gonna let anything bad happen to you."

Giles came back and set everything up. Buffy moved to the center of the room but wouldn't put him down. Giles chanted while he lit the candles around them and when the circle was complete Buffy felt calmer and she could see that Xander did as well. He dipped his fingers in some water and touched Xander's forehead then ran them along his arm to the cut. "Okay, I think he's ready."

"What about you?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." He got the tools and began stitching up the cut on Xander's hand. Buffy made sure Xander kept looking at her, quietly singing to him. She couldn't believe it when he actually fell asleep. She stopped singing then and just held him. "Please don't stop."

"What?"

"You're singing, your voice, it's beautiful, it keeps me calm."

"I can't sing with you watching me." She blushed and smiled. "But we could talk." She regretted that almost as soon as she said it. She knew what he would want to talk about.

"This morning Buffy, in the kitchen..."

"I can't talk about that now Giles."

"We'll have to at some point Buffy we can't just ignore what happened."

She knew he was right, but it hurt too much to think that he might regret it. "Last night, when you were out," she saw him look up at her warily for a moment, "last night when you were out, did you find anything out about the necklace?"

"Oh, um, no, although someone did say they thought it was tied to the moon. Like either the full moon or the new moon will bring about the end of it. But my source can't be considered entirely reliable."

"Do we need to do more research then? I mean either it ends soon or it ends soon plus fourteen days." He gave her a look of absolute surprise. "What? Don't look at me like that. I know the lunar cycle takes 28 days."

"Well, yes I suppose you're right. Although it might be best to at least find out more about the amulet. They could've been wrong, it might not be tied to the moon."

"Yeah, okay, let's put him to bed," she bent her head toward Xander. "Is it okay to leave the circle?" He nodded and blew out the candles. She carried Xander up to bed and tucked him in. She kissed him gently on the forehead. Soon he was going to be back to his normal size and things would go back to normal.


	4. Chapter 4

Downstairs Giles was sitting on the sofa, staring into space. He wondered how Buffy could be so calm after what had happened in the kitchen. If she was right, if his source was right, he wouldn't be young for very much longer. Really he should take advantage of the situation. He wondered what she would say if he told her he wanted to forget researching, take her upstairs and make love to her for the rest of their time together. He watched her come back down the stairs and she looked beautiful. He looked at her more closely that she looked resigned, even as she was trying to smile.

"Buffy?"

"So, lead me to the books, I'm ready to have my two friends back." She picked up a book and began to flip through it looking for the amulet.

"Your two friends?"

She looked up at him, "you too Giles. Things were...well, things were easier the way they were before. Where's Willow?"

"Asleep on the floor, I didn't really feel the need to wake her up." He was a little hurt that she just wanted things to go back the way they were. "Tea?"

"Yeah, sure." Buffy continued to flip through the book. Every thing was nearly figured out. Part of her wanted to stop researching and just keep things as they were, enjoying her moment of motherhood, but another part of her wanted it to end that night so she could show Giles how mature she was. The mental torment ended when she looked down at her book and was confronted with an image of the amulet. She read the words around it.

'A wish granting object that allows the person to live out their wish from midnight of the new moon to midnight of the full moon. Because of this it is best that the wish be made on the new moon for the person to receive the full benefit and duration of their wish.' Well it looks like Giles' source was correct. 'The amulet also exercises its power within the confines of the room it's in. It will affect all of those who magic it touches, but if one is removed from the room during the critical period the spell will not have the full affect.' And that explains why Giles wasn't a toddler, Buffy had pulled him back into the kitchen. 'It is also important to be specific in one's wish otherwise it could have unintended consequences.' And that's probably why they ended up as toddlers in the first place. No doubt one of them just wished they were young again and didn't specify an age.

"Giles, where's your calendar?"

"On the wall by my desk," his voice came from the kitchen while he prepared the tea.

Buffy walked over to the calendar and looked for the next full moon. It was tonight, of course. Buffy felt like she was going to cry. Tomorrow morning she would wake up and Willow and Xander would be all grown up. She wouldn't be able to use them as way to avoid deep discussions with Giles. That was a lot to think about. She needed to get out, get some perspective. She put the book down leaving it open to the page with the amulet on it and slipped on her shoes.

"Buffy, would you like something to eat with your tea?" Giles came out of the kitchen. "Buffy?" She wasn't there. He went to the coffee table and saw the book. He read the passage on the amulet and then re-read it. So the end to this was near. He would've gone to the calendar to figure out the next full moon but just then Willow came out rubbing her eyes groggily.

He drew the little one onto his lap. "Did you have a good nap love?"

She nodded, "Mama?"

"I don't know where she went sweet, but I hope she comes back."

"Sleepy papa." Those words, so innocently spoken brought him to his knees. He began to cry. He cried for his Slayer, for everything she was giving up, for everything she would never get to have, and he cried for himself. All he could do was clutch Willow tightly to him while he let the tears stream down his face. Gently she patted him on the head, "no cry papa, no cry."

Giles had thought about having children. He didn't think it was possible, not with his calling. Perhaps if he hadn't lived on a hellmouth, the opportunity would've presented himself. Many watchers had families, even he was the son and grandson of a watcher. He had told himself over and over that someday he'd meet the right woman. Now he knew that he had but was too frightened to say anything to her. He loved Buffy, with a powerful, all consuming devotion. He knew that even if she could never return his love he would be by her always, to love and protect her.

Buffy looked at her watch. Everything would be back to normal in a few hours. She wondered if they would remember their brief stint as children? Would Xander remember that he had called her mama? She hadn't given much thought to having children, but now she ached inside at the thought she might never have one.

And what about Giles? She had watched him fall ever more in love with them during the week. Why was he still a single old bachelor, when he had so much love to give. She knew why, deep in the back of her mind, she knew that living in Sunnydale and taking care of her had been too consuming for him, he never would've allowed himself to bring an innocent life into that world, not after what happened to Jenny. All the times she drove him away, why didn't he stay away? Why didn't he take his chance at a normal life?

Buffy sat in the park thinking about these questions and many more until the sun began to set. She was stiff from sitting and hungry. She wondered how Giles had done without her but figured things would be quiet after their exciting morning. Standing up she stretched and watched the sun dip below the horizon. Only a few more hours until life returned to normal and she didn't want to waste any more of it. She began to walk back to the house.

She hadn't gone far when two vamps stepped out from behind a bush. She felt a brief moment of panic when she realized she hadn't brought any weapons with her, but it only last a moment, she was the Slayer, she would improvise. She was able to fend off their attacks, but when an unsuspected third vamp showed up it became more of a struggle. They managed to get a few good hits in, but she rolled with them. She broke a branch off the tree and dusted one. The other two circled her warily aware of the fact that an armed Slayer, no matter the fashion, was infinitely more dangerous. The rushed to attack her. She took on the bigger one, bringing him down with a roundhouse kick to the head before driving the stake through him. Seeing him defeated the third began to run away. Buffy contemplated letting him go but when she looked down to see her clothes crumpled, ripped and stained she changed her mind. She turned and threw the branch at the retreating vamp's back, smiling grimly as it hit its mark and the vamp gave one anguished howl before disintegrating.

Giles had managed to keep the children entertained all day without too much damage to the house. He wished that Buffy was there to talk to at least, but he knew better than most that Buffy needed some time alone. However his worry increased as the sun set. He was fairly certain she hadn't taken anything with her and soon it would be dark. An hour later his worries seemed to confirmed when she came in, streaked with dirt and carrying a few fresh cuts and scrapes.

"You're back." She stared at him. He was holding a pot in one hand, and there was a dishrag over his shoulder, he was in the process of serving dinner while Willow and Xander waited semi-patiently. She had never seen anything so heartwarming in her life.

She made her way to the table and kissed each of the on the head. Xander held his hand up for her to look at, "Boo, boo."

She kissed it, "all better." He smiled at her and turned to his plate. "I'll be back down in a second, I'm just gonna change into some clean clothes."

Giles watched her go before following her upstairs. "Buffy?" He opened the door to his room and stopped, she had taken her shirt off. At first he felt bad for walking in on her, but that guilt was overridden by worry when he saw the marks on her body. It didn't matter that they would be gone in the morning, they were there now and they were obviously painful. "Buffy! What happened?"

She held her shirt against her chest for modesty's sake. "Just a couple of vamps they caught me unprepared." She flinched as she reached for her nightshirt."

"Buffy let me help you. They need disinfected." She sat down on the bed in acquiescence. "Are you okay?"

"Nothing a good night's sleep won't cure."

"That's not what I was talking about. Buffy, I saw what you found out about the amulet. How do you feel about that?"

She winced as he applied the iodine to her cuts. "It's what we want isn't it? They get to go back to being their normal adult selves, I get to be the mature, childless Slayer. The aunt that people invite for the holidays because it's wrong for anybody to be alone during that time of year and she gives good presents." She couldn't hold back the edge of bitterness in her voice.

"Yes, well, I must say, I wouldn't mind staying this age."

"Of course, give yourself more time to find the perfect woman to settle down with, have a family of your own."

"I very much doubt that Buffy. However, it would be nice to be able to join you in your battles without having to dose myself on pain medications afterwards. I think I can safely say that I will not be settling down any time soon."

She could hear the touch of sadness in his voice. "I'm sorry Giles, I keep forgetting how hard this must be for you. Can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me anything Buffy."

"What would you have done if there hadn't been a way to reverse this?"

"There's always a way to reverse things Buffy."

"But if there weren't? If Willow and Xander were doomed to go through their childhood again and you were only a few years older than me, what would you do?" He thought about it for a moment. "Would you leave us?"

"Of course not." He wouldn't leave them or her while there was still breath enough in his body.

"Would we all live here?"

"I suppose we'd have to get a bigger place so they could each have their own room."

"'We'd' get another place?"

"Of course Buffy do you think I would turn you out? Or make you go it alone? I would stay with you and them until the end and we'd make our own family."

Buffy was elated by his response. She forgot the cuts and bruises on her body as well as her modesty as she crushed him in a loving embrace. "Thank you Giles." She kissed him all over his face, "Thank you so much." She kissed him again, this time on the lips, gently, tentatively. He didn't react, but he didn't pull away either. She kissed him again and suddenly his arms were around her, pulling her close, tangling in her hair.

He pushed her back onto the bed and began to caress her gently. She responded to his touch, reaching for the hem of his shirt to pull it off. It was awkward for a moment as his head became stuck, but he freed it and crushed his mouth to hers, delighted to feel their flesh pressed together. He drew one leg up between her two and pressed his thigh against her heated center and she gasped. He could feel Ripper rising within him and dug his teeth into her neck.

She felt his hands slide downward, dipping below the top of her pants and then beginning to fumble with the button. She wanted this, and more to the point she wanted him. She surged against his touch, moaning his name in his ear. She was ready to get lost in him when a distant sound from downstairs reached her hearing. Groaning she sat up, using her slayer strength to overpower Giles. She put his shirt on and began to leave the room.

Confused Giles watched her as she made her way to the door. "Where are you going?"

"I'm putting them to bed. I'm tired of being interrupted all the time."

"I'll come down and help you."

"No, you stay right there, I'm not letting you get away again." She winked at him then shut the door behind her.

He waited for her, but he knew that it would be impossible for her to get them to bed as fast as she obviously wanted to. He pulled a t-shirt on and joined her downstairs. She had cleaned up Willow and was now working on Xander. Without saying anything he took Willow up to the bedroom, put her pajamas on and tucked her into bed. Buffy followed a moment later with Xander. They both sang to them before kissing them each. Buffy felt the now familiar tug on her heart, as much as she was glad she would be able to enjoy Giles uninterrupted, she was going to miss them. They both stayed with them until they closed their eyes and their slow breathing assured them they were both asleep.

Buffy looked at Giles across the bed. She could see the hesitation, the concern, but she also saw the desire and want they hid. She took his hand and led him from the room, making sure to shut the door behind them. She didn't let go of his hand until they were both behind the shut door of his bedroom. Then she drew nearer to him, brushing some of his hair back from his forehead. She kissed him, reassuringly, questioningly, gently running her tongue along his lower lip.

"Buffy...maybe we..."

"Shhh, let me have this. If nothing else Giles, let me have this one night with you."

He could not resist her implorations any more than he could stop his reaction to finally feeling her touch on his body. He removed his shirt and watched as she did the same. She followed with her pants then stood shyly before him, clad only in a tiny pair of panties. He quickly shucked his pants, then stood uncertainly before her, his erection making a tent in his silk boxers.

Seeing her uncertainty he took her hand and pulled her to the bed. He kissed her before laying her back on the bed. He covered them both with the blanket then began to explore her flesh with his fingers. He traced the curves of her body, stopping to kiss her scars like he had wanted to do the first time he had seen her nearly naked. She clutched at his shoulder, at his head, quietly whimpering as his caresses ignited her.

He let his hands slide between her legs, feeling her shudder as he pressed against her most sensitive areas. She was hot and moist and seemed to grow more so with each passing second. He parted her lips and gently slid a finger into her. She gasped and arched her back. "Giles, please!"

He chuckled, "in time love, in time." He pulled her underwear down, and then his own. He moved back up her body, letting his aching member press against her thigh while he took first one and then the other nipple in his mouth. She bucked under him, her hips trying to get under him, to guide him home, but he only laughed and held her legs tighter with his own.

The teasing continued until Buffy couldn't take it any more. Using her strength she rolled him over and straddled him, smiling triumphantly. His cock bounced against her ass as she leaned forward to kiss him. She stopped and smiled at him before levering her body until he was poised at her opening. Slowly she began to ease herself down and he groaned. "Buffy, wait...I don't..."

She paused, savoring the feeling. "Giles, I'm okay, whatever else happens, I'm not going to regret this." She resumed her downward slide.

"It's not that...oh God that feels good...I haven't...a long time...I don't..." he groaned, "I haven't any protection." He was impressed that he had managed to complete a sentence.

"I don't care." She knew he was safe, and beyond that she didn't care, she wasn't going to stop so one of them could run to the drugstore.

He saw the truth in her eyes and it unhinged him. Slayer strength or no he rolled her onto her back, plunging deep into her smiling as she cried out. His hands sought out her most sensitive spots as he worked in her, bringing her to the edge then pulling back until she whimpered. As much as he wanted to attain his satisfaction he wanted it to be something she never forgot. Feeling himself tighten, pulled her to him in a blistering kiss, sending her over the edge while he followed..

When he was finally able to focus again he saw her staring into space with a dreamy expression. "You're okay aren't you? I didn't hurt you?"

She reached out to touch his face. "That was..." she couldn't think of the word. He smiled and rolled onto his side, letting his slackening member slide out of her. Immediately she rolled to him, shaping her body to his. "I've never felt anything like that before."

Her admission shocked him but he didn't let it show. "Then you haven't had a very good lovers." He let his hand stroke her back.

"Giles?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do it again?" She smiled as he growled and rolled on top of her.

Buffy opened her eyes and stared at the clock on the nightstand, four o'clock. She rolled to look at the man next to her. In the glow of the alarm clock he looked the same. She touched his face, feeling the creases at the corner of his eyes, and the laugh lines on his cheeks. Back to the Giles she had known and loved. She kissed him, watching to see if he would wake up. His eyes were still closed but she could see a smile tugging at his lips and feel his arousal as it grew along her leg.

He opened his eyes to stare into hers. "Aren't you tired? I did keep you up for most of the night."

"Slayer remember?" She smirked at him.

"Well, let's see if we can't exhaust you."

Already sated he was able to draw their lovemaking out this time. He focused his attention on her, giving her as much pleasure as she could take, delighting in her calling out his name. He pressed into her, amazed at how tight she was after their previous illicit adventures. He watched her, staring deep into her eyes as he pushed her to the top, and only at the peak did she close her eyes, crying out to the darkness, "Giles I love you!"

Finally with a quiet cry his passion spilled into her. He continued to move, staring down at her, deep into her blue-green eyes. He wondered if she had meant it, or if it had been something said in passion. She smiled at him drowsily and he thought it was worth the risk, "I love you too."

Buffy nestled into him and they both fell asleep. In the morning things would be different she knew. In the morning they would do it again he thought. He tried to count the days since the last full moon, but he was asleep before he'd gotten very far.

She was staring at the ceiling, watching the shadows from outside that moved across it. She was beginning to wonder how much longer she had before this peace was disturbed. A returned to silver haired Giles slumbered peacefully next to her and she was certain that a grown up Xander and Willow were in the bed across the hall. She was placing wagers with herself about who would wake up first. She felt the man next to her stir, and turned to look at him, smiling at his beautiful green eyes. "Good morning, lover." She smiled and kissed him lightly.

"Mornin'," he pulled her to him for a deeper kiss. "Sleep well?"

"Oh yes," she began to slip to the edge of the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Put the kettle on, I'm ready for breakfast."

He groaned and pulled her pillow over his face. "Of course, the terrible two."

She smiled, "I don't think they'll be much of a problem today." She grabbed his sweater and put it on, pulling on some jeans as well. She was about to leave when she turned and came back to the bed. "Giles?" She took the pillow off his head and made sure he was looking at her, "Giles. I love you." She put plenty of emphasis on the words before leaning down to kiss him.

"Sod breakfast," he pulled her down to him, kissing her passionately, hoping she would forget the kettle, the breakfast and the two year olds slumbering across the hall. However, the world had other ideas and the moment was ruined by a scream, a loud thump, and another scream.

Buffy sighed. "I'll go, put your clothes on, we don't need to shock them again."

"What do you mean again?" She didn't answer and just left the room. Groaning and cursing he dug out some clothes, noticing that Buffy had once again made off with one of his sweaters. Once dressed he made his way into the room, and nearly fainted. A nearly naked and fully grown Xander was pressed against the closet door, the bed sheet wrapped around him while Willow held the pillows against her naked form. "Dear god, it's been undone."


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy watched Xander and Willow, trying very hard not to laugh. Xander kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Finally he managed to croak, "how drunk was I last night?"

"Xander, that was four days ago. I can assure you that you were not drunk last night."

"Will someone please just tell me why me and Willow are naked and in bed together?"

That did it, Buffy collapsed in a fit of giggles, bracing herself against the wall. Even Giles had to laugh, but when he saw the look of confusion and fear on Willow's face he stopped. "It was a spell. The amulet we took off that demon grants wishes. You were talking about how old you felt. For the last three days you've been two years old."

"Two years old?"

"Oh don't look like that. You were possibly the cutest two year old boy ever."

"Please tell me I didn't do anything too embarrassing."

"Like?"

"Oh I don't know, run around town naked, wet the bed..."

"You wore diapers!"

"...call you mama."

Everyone had been laughing until he said that. Willow and Xander continued to laugh, but Giles stopped when he saw the look on Buffy's face. "Yes well, Xander you can go into my room and I'll get your clothes. Willow I'll bring you something in here."

Buffy had disappeared downstairs while Giles gathered their clothes together. She was making tea when Giles came down. She tried to smile at him but he could see the tears swimming in her eyes. "Well, I suppose that could've gone worse."

"Yes, but it's nice to have them back to normal." She nodded and he came behind her. "Buffy," he reached out and touched her shoulder. Before he could say anything she buried her head in his chest and began to cry. He stroked her hair softly. "It's okay you know? Everything will work out for you."

She lifted her head and smiled, wiping her eyes. "I knew yesterday that today was going to suck."

"Yesterday?"

"After I found the amulet in the book, I saw the full moon was last night."

"Well, you could've told me."

"I thought you would've figured it out."

Giles looked like he was trying to figure something out. He went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. "Bloody hell!" He came out of the bathroom livid. "So you knew I was going to be...be..."

"Back to normal?"

"Well...yes...Wait, last night. You knew last night?"

"Yes. How does that matter?"

"It matters!" He lowered his voice, "it matters because I took you to bed last night. You knew I wasn't going to be young in the morning. The only reason you slept with me was because I was young!"

She broke the cup she was holding. "How can you say that?"

"You're not denying it."

"Don't you remember anything from last night?"

"I remember you asking me to 'let you have this'. You just thought you'd try it out, see what I was like before I became an old man."

Buffy slapped him. "How dare you say that to me!" He stared at her, holding his cheek. She had hit him and for once she hadn't held back. "Forget it. I'm out of here, you should be able to handle things on your own." She stormed past Xander, who was standing there aghast, and out of his house, slamming the door behind her. Giles slumped into a chair and put his head in his hands. What the hell had he just done?

"I don't know what the hell just happened Giles, but you'd better go after her."

"Perhaps it would be better if she had some time to cool down."

"Giles, I may not understand what's going on between you and Buffy and I may not know a lot about women. But I can pretty much guarantee that if you don't talk to her now things will never be the same between you. Eventually they'll be okay, but they'll never be the same."

"Xander..."

"No, I care about you guys too much to watch you go through all that again. Go get her and tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"I don't know, whatever needs to be said. Now go, with that slayer speed she could be in the next city by now."

Giles knew he was right. He grabbed his jacket and rushed passed Willow and out the door. Willow turned to look at Xander. "What was that about?"

Giles hurried out into the street and looked both ways but didn't see her. For a moment he thought about where she would go then set off for her apartment. He banged on the door until her neighbor opened hers and told him to "fuck off". Figuring she wasn't there he turned back and made his way into town. He peeked in every coffee shop, hoping to find her drinking some incredibly sweet and foamy coffee drink. Instead he found Megan and her mother.

"Wow, we just seem to be running into each other all the time."

"Yes, what a coincidence." He wasn't really listening to her as he searched the crowded coffee shop for Buffy.

"Well I thought we might run into you again so I brought these. I thought you might like them." She pressed an envelope into his hand.

"Um, thanks a lot," he absentmindedly put the envelope in his jacket pocket and headed out of the cafe and back into the street. It began to rain he and he pulled his jacket around him tightly. Suddenly inspiration hit him and he cut across town toward the park.

He found her on a bench, shivering in the rain and staring straight ahead at the empty playground. She hadn't brought a jacket with her and she was drenched to the bone. He sat down next to her, making sure to keep his distance. He reached out to touch her shoulder, "Buffy?" She flinched and he withdrew his hand.

"What are you doing here Giles?"

"Looking for you."

"I don't need you to take care of me Giles, I'm not a child."

"I know that." He ran his fingers through his hair, "I want to take care of you."

"I don't need a father Giles."

"I know." He put his arm around her and was relieved when she didn't flinch away from him. "You're freezing Buffy, here, put my jacket on." He took his jacket off and put it around her shoulders. He stared into the rain waiting for her to say something else.

"Did you really mean what you said this morning?" She asked it so quietly he had to dip his head to hear her. "About me only wanting to be with you to 'see what you were like before you became an old man'."

"I don't know why I said that."

"It's not true. Don't you remember this morning?"

"This morning?"

"The last time we, um, we were..." she could feel the heat of a blush travel up her neck.

"Oh, right, yes, when we were, um, it was...um," he took his glasses off and began polishing them on his wet shirt and lapsed into silence. He let his mind wonder back to that morning. The way she touched him, the way she looked at him. Looked at him. "You knew, this morning, the last time we, um..."

"Were intimate?"

"Yes, quite. You knew I was back to my, well, my old self." She nodded. "And what you said..."

"I meant it, I still mean it."

"But how could you?" He seemed genuinely surprised. "I'm old, and I've hurt you and disappointed you, and I've..."

"Been there for me, held me, and kept me safe. I wouldn't still be here if it weren't for you."

"I'm old."

"Not that old."

"I'm ugly."

"Most definitely not ugly."

"Buffy, I'm trying to be serious."

"And so am I Giles. You know me, I don't lie, not about important things, and this is most definitely an important thing."

"You're right about that, this is very important."

They sat in silence for a moment, ignoring the rain that continued to fall. If it were a movie he would brush the rain off her nose, cup her face in his hands and kiss her breathless. After which they would stutter over their declarations of love, hail a cab back to his place and tumble into bed, followed by suitably romantic music and the credits. But it wasn't a movie. Buffy was starting to shiver and Giles was finding it hard to ignore the icy trail of water streaming down his neck.

"Giles?"

"Yes love?"

She smiled at his endearment. "I'm cold."

He laughed. "Let's get you home."

"Whose home?" She smirked at him and saw a devilish grin spread across his face.

"Well, my place is considerably bigger."

"True..."

"And I might have angered your neighbor earlier when I was looking for you."

"So your place then?"

"My place."

They both stood up and Buffy moved to put his jacket on properly. Her hand brushed against the envelope in the pocket, knocking it onto the ground. "What's this?"

"Oh, that lovely woman and her daughter, Megan gave it to me at the coffee shop."

She opened the envelope and pulled out the pictures. "Oh Giles, look!" She passed the pictures to him one by one. "They were so cute."

"They were. Don't tell them I said so, but I kind of miss them."

"Me too," she wrapped her arm around him. "Come on, let's go home."

When they got back to his place Xander and Willow were mercifully gone. It had been a long day for both of them and after changing out of their wet clothes and into some dry ones they collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep in each other's arms. And neither of them woke up until they heard his phone ring.

He spoke a few words grumpily into it before slamming the receiver back down then turned to face Buffy. He brushed some hair back from her face, "Good morning."

"Morning. Who was on the phone?"

"Willow and Xander. They wanted to know if we were going to do some more research on the amulet. They said they'd come over later."

"Fantastic." Her stomach growled, "breakfast?"

"Oh yes please, and could you..."

"Put the kettle on? Of course, it's not a meal unless there's tea." She winked at him before leaving the room and moving down to the kitchen. She put the kettle on and laid out a cup for each of them. She listened to him stumble around upstairs and get into the shower. She wondered what he would do if she joined him but the kettle whistled and disturbed her from her reverie.

A moment later Giles came down, jeans riding comfortably low and a flannel shirt that he hadn't buttoned up yet. Buffy was so distracted by how handsome he looked that she let her cup over flow as she poured her tea. Giles noticed her behavior and smiled. Buffy turned back and tried to concentrate her focus on making breakfast but that became nearly impossible as he came to stand behind her. He began to kiss her neck and chuckled as she shivered under his touch.

"Tea?"

"Huh? Oh yeah right. Tea." She turned back to the counter. Giles padded into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

"Bloody hell!"

"What?" Buffy came out of the kitchen, expecting to see him injured or a demon staring in the window.

"Those bloody miscreants turned my coffee table into a bloody Jackson Pollock!"

Buffy looked and saw that they had colored all over the table with crayons and markers. She laughed, "I'm sure you could get them to clean it off for you."

"Not bloody likely."

Buffy went back into the kitchen. "I'm glad our friends are back to normal, but I still kinda miss them. Bet you do too, even if you won't say it. Of course obviously our children would be way better behaved." Her hand flew to her mouth when she realized what she said, "Oh God, I mean, not that you'd want, or that we're going to. Shit."

Giles put his tea down and came into the kitchen. He couldn't believe what she had just said. He watched her as she fumbled around the kitchen. "Buffy."

"I was just rambling Giles. I didn't know what I was saying. Really, it's no big deal."

He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. "Buffy look at me," she looked up and he could see the emotions chase themselves across her face, only some of them he could read. "Have you really thought about us, hav-having ch-children? You want to have my child?"

"Not immediately or anything, but you'd make such a good father. I saw you this week and I know that you want to be one too. And well, I just thought, I mean I'll understand if you don't want to..."

He reached past her and turned off the stove. Buffy couldn't read the look in his eyes as he gazed down on her. Tentatively he traced her cheekbone. "Buffy I love you, more than anything. And you've just made me the happiest man on this planet."

She gave him the biggest, most brilliant smile he'd ever seen. "I love you too Giles. So much." She put her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. Their kiss deepened when he opened his mouth to admit her tongue. He let his hands roam all over her body without any shame or guilt and she welcomed his explorations.

He growled as he lifted her, his muscles still taut and firm. He carried her to the sofa and laid her down, taking off her sweatpants. H smiled as she moaned his name. He was going to take advantage of the situation. He admired the woman sprawled before him on the leather sofa. He took his time, kissing his way from her delicate ankles, up her legs, skipping over her panty-clad center he swirled his tongue into her navel. Slowly he inched her shirt up, following the ascending hemline with his mouth. Stopping for a moment to remove his shirt he fell upon her ravishing her pert breasts with his mouth.

Buffy clutched at his head, running her fingers through his hair. She had never experienced pleasure like this before. Perhaps it was his years of experience or maybe it was just the poor quality of her previous lovers, but she knew that she would never feel this way with anyone else. She could feel her need for him building as she begged him for more.

Giles allowed him self a smile at the pleasure he gave her. He kissed her lips, bruising them in his passion. As his hands traveled slowly down her body to her moist and waiting petals he allowed her access to the fly of his jeans which she worked on feverishly despite the shaking of her hands. She had just released his throbbing member from its denim prison and wrapped her hand around it when the doorknob turned.

Both of them stopped what they were doing and looked at the door. Giles uttered a silent prayer for the foresight that had made him lock the door. He tried to distract Buffy by nibbling on her neck, adding marks of his own over those of the Master, Angel and Dracula. He was nearly successful until someone began knocking on the door. "Giles are you there? Open up man, it's Xander."

Giles groaned and Buffy giggled into his neck. She giggled louder when Willow added her voice to milieu. "Giles, we know you're there, we called you this morning."

"Oh just bugger off will you!" Buffy couldn't stop her shoulders from shaking up and down.

"Giles are you okay?"

Even Giles was beginning to laugh now. "Look, I'll see you later yeah? Everything's fine."

"Um, okay, well, I guess we'll see you later."

They each looked at each other as they listened to the sounds of Willow and Xander's retreating footsteps, their eyes shining with laughter. "You are so beautiful."

"Giles," Buffy could feel herself blushing. He smirked at her and slid off the sofa, and Buffy felt the loss of his body immediately. "Where are you going?" She tried to pout at him.

"Don't worry, I'm never leaving you again." He bent down and picked her up, laughing as she shrieked and clutched at his muscular shoulders. "Perhaps we should take this somewhere a little more...secluded." He carried up the stairs to his bedroom, kicking the door shut with his foot, before tossing her onto the bed and laying down on top of her.

Buffy wrapped one leg around him, arching into him communicating her need. She could feel him hard against her thigh. She wanted him, and neither of them were in any doubt about that. She clutched at his shoulders, her nails raking into him. She was panting in his ear and he could feel his resolve to take things slowly was breaking. "Giles, please..."

"Buffy, I don't have, I mean I didn't think," Giles felt himself blush. He couldn't believe he'd been caught unprepared.

"Don't care Giles, doesn't matter."

He realized that they had already had this conversation. "But Buffy, oh dear lord," he groaned as Buffy wrapped her other leg around him and pulled her into her wet tunnel. He had to hold on, it had been so long since he'd been with anyone let alone someone so tight he nearly finished right then. Buffy closed her eyes for a moment letting the brief moment of pain pass. Spike had been her last lover and it had been several years since then; and Giles was much bigger than anyone she had ever been with. She held still as she became used to his girth and he seemed to sense this. He held still in her, pressing his forehead against hers. "Are you okay?"

"Mmhmm."

"We can stop any time Buffy."

"No!" He laughed. "I mean, it's just been awhile, and you're so, well..."

He laughed again. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. It'll feel good, I promise." Buffy looked up at him and could see the truth in his eyes. Then she gasped, it wasn't just Giles she was looking at, but Ripper. He began to move in her, taking slow, long strokes. Soon Buffy was moving back against him; her moans spurred him on. He varied his movements, bringing her to the peak then pulling back. Finally with one last thrust he sent her over the edge, screaming his name. He kissed her all over while she came down from her orgasmic high. He waited until she opened her eyes and looked at him. Without breaking eye contact he began to pick up his movements. Seeing the look of love and need on her face was all it took for him to spill his seed into her.

Buffy snuggled into his shoulder as they lay next to each other catching their breath. She was gently stroking his chest, her fingers playing with his chest hair. Giles let his fingers brush over her shoulder. "You know, we should be more careful next time."

"I'll go to the store later."

"You will?"

"Hey, it's a new century Giles, us women are liberated now. Besides, why are you so certain there's going to be a next time?"

"Cheeky monkey." He kissed her forehead. "Come on, let's go down and have some tea."

She came down a moment later with the sort of beatific smile stretched across her face that only comes from a good shag. She smiled at him and he smiled back, pouring the boiling water over the tea leaves. Wearing nothing but one of his button up shirts, some woolen socks and a pair of cotton underpants she looked like a vision in plaid. He sat down next to her and handed her a pot of tea, dropping several cubes of sugar in, and kissing her on the forehead.

She shifted on the sofa making more room for him. He reached for the paper and read it while she watched him. "You know, I'm not exactly used to be watched while I read."

"That paper is almost a week old."

"So it is," he threw it onto his table and cast a disparaging look his "decorated" table.

"This is all a bit domestic isn't it?"

"That sounded quite British, have I rubbed off on you?"

She trailed her hand up his thigh, "well, there was a lot of rubbing goin' on last night."

"Indeed," he stilled her hand with his. "What are we going to do about this amulet?"

"Destroy it."

"You said that rather matter-of-factly."

"It's dangerous. Someone could wish that there was no slayer and for 14 days there wouldn't be one. What would happen to the world then?"

"We could keep it hidden."

Buffy looked at him curiously, "Why are you so interested in keeping this all of a sudden?"

"I was just thinking, it could be useful. Especially if we're going to have a...a...relationship."

"I don't get it."

"Buffy I'm old."

"So?"

"Perhaps we could keep the amulet. Once a month I could be your age again."

Buffy looked at him. "Don't be an idiot Giles."

"I'm not, there don't appear to be any side effects. We could be normal together."

Anger flashed in her eyes. "So we're not normal?"

"Buffy, I just meant...well...I'm old enough to be your father, we're hardly a conventional couple."

"So what, you're ashamed of me?"

"No Buffy," he reached out to touch her but she shrank away from his hand, the hurt evident in her eyes, "I could never be ashamed of you. Quite the opposite actually. It's so easy to pretend that everything will be perfect when we're sitting here, all snug in my flat, but out there, in the real world..."

"You think I'd be ashamed of you?" The truth hit her like a blow to the stomach.

"Can you honestly say that you're okay with us going out, as couple, with your friends?"

"Yes."

"Really? You wouldn't be bothered by showing me affection in front of Willow and Xander."

Buffy shot him a murderous look and reached for the phone. She angrily dialed the phone. He stared at her curiously. "Will? Hey it's Buffy. Do you want to out tonight? Yeah, me and Giles, you and Xander. Yes, me and Giles. Mmm, hmm, sure eight's great. Yeah, we'll meet you there." She put the phone down and gave him a challenging look.

"What was that about?"

"We're going out tonight."

"Out?"

"Since you obviously don't believe me, I'm going to show you that I don't care how old you are." She left the room and went into his library, returning a moment later with the amulet in one hand and a knife in the other. "And just to make sure you don't do anything stupid," she put it down on the table and before he could stop her she brought the pommel of the knife down on the center stone, shattering it.

"What have you done?"

"Kept you from ruining everything."

"Buffy how could you be so..."

"Mature? Clever? Correct?"

"Stupid! Impulsive!"

"Stupid? You think I'm stupid?"

"No. I mean yes, no, your action was not the brightest I've seen."

"That amulet was dangerous, if for know other reason than it was making you think I'm not being honest with you."

"You don't know what could've happened!"

"Giles, I don't care what our friends say. If they have a problem with us being together than maybe they're not really our friends." She looked at him, sitting his eyes wide, mouth slightly open, she was pretty sure he still needed some convincing. "Giles, I love you," she straddled him, "I love you," she kissed him. "And if you don't believe me," she began unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing, "I guess I'll just have to show you."

A deep growl began to emanate from his chest as his hands moved to cup her cotton-covered behind. He kissed his way down her neck to the shirt, which was still frustratingly buttoned. He ripped it open, and ravished her breasts with his mouth. Soon he was pulling her underwear down and struggling with his own pants. Their lovemaking was frantic, passionate, as he accepted her words and her actions as truth. He lifted her off and pressed her against the back of his leather sofa, entering her from behind.

This was a new position for her and all of a sudden she felt her orgasm building. He reached around her, rolling her nipples with his finger. "Buffy I love you." That was all it took for her to tumble over the edge, screaming his name. She reached back and wrapped her hand around his neck pulling his head to her neck. His hands slid over her sweaty body and with one final thrust he came inside her.

Breathing deep and trying to slow her fluttering heart she rested her head against his. "Was that our first fight?"

"Is that how we'll make up every time we fight?"

"Maybe. Of course next time, you're going to have to earn that." Buffy pulled his sweat pants on then nestled into his chest.

"Mmmm, how do I do that?"

"Flowers, chocolates, big giant diamonds, you know, things of that sort."

"Ah I see."

"Giles?"

"Yes?"

"This is forever right?"

"Forever is a long time Buffy."

"Giles..." she gave him an evil look.

"Buffy as long as there's a breath in my body I swear I will never leave you."

"Forever then."

"Yes, forever then." He held her closely, kissing her forehead and hoping that forever was a long time indeed.


	6. Author's note

Howdy fans,

Some blatant self-promotion here. I've posted a new story over in the Buffy section. I know Buffy/Giles may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like Snape/Hermione it might interest you. So pop on over and check it out. Only two really long chapters long and the first one's up. First Comes Baby?!

Thanks,

uwmuggle


End file.
